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    Introductory Statistics

    (10 reviews)

    Douglas S. Shafer, University of North Carolina

    Zhiyi Zhang, University of North Carolina

    Copyright Year:

    ISBN 13: 9781453344873

    Publisher: Saylor Foundation

    Language: English

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    CC BY-NC-SA

    Reviews

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    Reviewed by Nabil Kahouadji, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Northeastern Illinois University on 4/30/23

    The text covers all material needed for an introduction and intermediate statistics course: starting with descriptive statistics, then the elements of probability theory needed for statistics, and finishing with a large portion dedicated to... read more

    Reviewed by Zhifang Yin, Instructor, Bunker Hill Community College on 6/8/20

    Overall the book is quite solid. few things: no permutation/combination for Binomial Distribution, no example for using second method no Poisson distribution, no normal approximation for Binomial and Poisson distribution Section, 7.2 maybe... read more

    Reviewed by Debra Hydorn, Professor of Mathematics, University of Mary Washington on 5/21/18

    The text includes the usual topics for a one-semester course in the same order as many introductory statistics texts. Topics are well motivated and discussion usually includes useful diagrams or graphs when appropriate. Each section includes a... read more

    Reviewed by Sarah Clifton, Instructor, Southeastern Louisiana University on 6/20/17

    This text covers all the necessary points in an introductory Statistics glass with a well organized, user friendly index. Each chapter has a nice summary of the glossary of terms. read more

    Reviewed by Amit Verma , Adjunct Instructor , University of North Carolina at Greensboro on 12/5/16

    When comparing numerous statistical textbooks to this book, the level of comprehensiveness is consistent with other material published and in some cases such as the use of examples it is actually more comprehensive than many of the published... read more

    Reviewed by Russell Campbell, Associate Professor, University of Northern Iowa on 12/5/16

    I did not see any index or glossary. It covers the basic descriptive statistics, probability, and inferential statistics of an introductory course. There are no permutations and combinations. The binomial distribution is presented as a formula... read more

    Reviewed by Mamfe Osafo, Mathematics Instructor, Centrral Lakes College on 1/7/16

    The text covers some of the areas needed for an Introduction to Statistics or Elementary Statistics. For example, experimental design was not well covered in chapter 1 which introduction to Statistics. Both the table of content and index was... read more

    Reviewed by Leslie Burkholder, Senior lecturer, University of British Columbia on 10/9/13

    The consensus introductory statistics curriculum is typically presented in three major units: (1) Descriptive statistics and study design (first third of course), (2) Probability and sampling distributions (second third of course), and (3)... read more

    Reviewed by Shivanand Balram, Senior Lecturer, Spatial Information Science, Simon Fraser University on 10/9/13

    Most introductory statistics texts use the logical structure of descriptive statistics, probability, and inferential statistics to deliver the materials to new students. This Introductory Statistics textbook by Shafer and Zhang is no exception.... read more

    Reviewed by Erik C. Korolenko, Professor, University Canada West on 10/9/13

    The text covers some of the areas of the subject, albeit not in-depth. Whether this approach is appropriate for an introductory course, depends on the plan for the further study. Similarly to many other introductory textbooks, the text leaves open... read more

    Table of Contents

    • Chapter 1: Introduction
    • Chapter 2: Descriptive Statistics
    • Chapter 3: Basic Concepts of Probability
    • Chapter 4: Discrete Random Variables
    • Chapter 5: Continuous Random Variables
    • Chapter 6: Sampling Distributions
    • Chapter 7: Estimation
    • Chapter 8: Testing Hypotheses
    • Chapter 9: Two-Sample Problems
    • Chapter 10: Correlation and Regression
    • Chapter 11: Chi-Square Tests and F-Tests

    Ancillary Material

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    About the Book

    In many introductory level courses today, teachers are challenged with the task of fitting in all of the core concepts of the course in a limited period of time. The Introductory Statistics teacher is no stranger to this challenge. To add to the difficulty, many textbooks contain an overabundance of material, which not only results in the need for further streamlining, but also in intimidated students. Shafer and Zhang wrote Introductory Statistics by using their vast teaching experience to present a complete look at introductory statistics topics while keeping in mind a realistic expectation with respect to course duration and students' maturity level.

    Over time the core content of this course has developed into a well-defined body of material that is substantial for a one-semester course. Shafer and Zhang believe that the students in this course are best served by a focus on that core material and not by an exposure to a plethora of peripheral topics. Therefore in writing Introduction to Statistics they have sought to present only the core concepts and use a wide-ranging set of exercises for each concept to drive comprehension. As a result Introduction to Statistics is a smaller and less intimidating textbook that trades some extended and unnecessary topics for a better-focused presentation of the central material.

    You will not only appreciate the depth and breadth of exercises in Introduction to Statistics, but you will also like the close attention to detail that Shafer and Zhang have paid to the student and instructor solutions manuals. This is one of few books on the market where the textbook authors have written the solutions manuals to maintain the integrity of the material.

    In addition, in order to facilitate the use of technology with the book the authors included “large data set exercises,” where appropriate, that refer to large data sets that are available on the web, and for which use of statistical software is necessary.

    About the Contributors

    Authors

    Douglas Shafer is Professor of Mathematics at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In addition to his position in Charlotte he has held visiting positions at the University of Missouri at Columbia and Montana State University and a Senior Fulbright Fellowship in Belgium. He teaches a range of mathematics courses as well as introductory statistics. In addition to journal articles and this statistic textbook he has co-authored with V. G. Romanovski (Maribor, Slovenia) a graduate textbook in his research specialty. He earned a PhD in mathematics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

    Zhiyi Zhang is Professor of Mathematics at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In addition to his teaching and research duties at the university, he consults actively to industries and governments on a wide range of statistical issues. His research activities in Statistics have been supported by National Science Foundation, US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Naval Research, and National Institute of Health. He earned a PhD in Statistics at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

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